Japan Inc is betting on India’s wealthy: Why MUFG, Mizuho, Daiwa and SMBC are buying into wealth managers

Japanese financial institutions are not simply investing in Indian wealth managers for their assets under management; they are seeking access to the country’s wealthy families and the distribution networks built around them, according to Manish Jain, Co-Founder and Strategic Alliances at MProfit and co-founder of Shaadi.com.

“None of this capital is chasing AUM. It is chasing distribution to the Indian family. The wealth manager is the toll booth,” Jain said in a LinkedIn post, pointing to investments by four major Japanese financial houses in Indian wealth platforms since 2023.

Four Japanese bets on Indian wealth

Daiwa Securities has built its presence through multiple investments in Ambit. Ambit Global Private Client (GPC), led by Amrita Farmahan, manages close to Rs 88,000 crore for ultra-high-net-worth families. Daiwa reportedly acquired 20% of the Ambit parent in May 2023, followed by Rs 415 crore for 15% of Ambit Finvest in March 2024 and Rs 285 crore for 15% of GPC in December 2025.

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MUFG Bank co-led a Rs 400 crore funding round in Neo Wealth and Asset Management in August 2024, marking its first wealth-management investment in India. Neo has built around Rs 35,000 crore in wealth assets in three years.

The largest transaction among the four involved Mizuho Securities and Avendus. In December 2025, Mizuho agreed to acquire 61.6%-78.3% of Avendus from KKR and co-founder Ranu Vohra for up to Rs 4,700 crore. Avendus Wealth is led by Apurva Sahijwani.

In August 2026, SMBC Asia Rising Fund led Centricity WealthTech's Rs 280 crore Series A at a valuation of about Rs 1,800 crore. Centricity holds around Rs 15,000 crore of assets.

Why Japan is looking to India

The investments come amid a broader expansion of Japanese business interests in India. Japanese companies announced $12.5 billion of investments through around 120 agreements during Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's visit to India in July.

Japanese banks have also made significant bets on India's financial sector. MUFG acquired 20% of Shriram Finance for $4.4 billion, while Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation became the largest shareholder in Yes Bank with a 24.22% stake, according to news reports.

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The broader push reflects Japanese companies' search for growth opportunities as Japan's domestic population and market continue to shrink. India, meanwhile, offers a large and expanding consumer and wealth market.

Wealth managers offer a direct route

For Japanese financial groups, wealth managers can provide something that is difficult to build quickly from scratch: established relationships with entrepreneurs, business families and ultra-high-net-worth clients.

Jain's assessment suggests the strategic value lies in this distribution layer. By investing in established platforms, Japanese institutions can gain a foothold in India's family-wealth ecosystem while potentially opening access to a wider range of financial products and services.

The four deals therefore point to a broader shift in Japan's India strategy—from simply deploying capital in financial assets to building deeper access to the people and businesses generating India's wealth.

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